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Thursday, July 10, 2003
Delicious mysteries to explore
Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||
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Tu Casa El Salvadoran Restaurant, tucked away in a small storefront on the East End, is one of those places you might not try unless someone tells you about it. Well, consider yourself told. Attached to a frame house on Washington Avenue near I-295, Tu Casa doesn't look like much from the outside. But inside, live-in owner Etlinda Alvarez and her helpers spend their days whipping up fresh, tasty and cheap Salvadoran treats. Alvarez and her husband started the restaurant about two years ago, and have built a loyal clientele, especially among the local Hispanic community. On a recent lunch hour, every customer in the place (except me) spoke Spanish. The cuisine is similar to Mexican, though not as spicy and not as dependent on sauces and cheese. Because of the extremely low prices, patrons can sample lots of items without busting their budgets. While most local Mexican restaurants are filled with menu items we're familiar with - tacos, burritos, enchiladas - Tu Casa's menu has some delicious mysteries to explore. There are tacos and burritos, too, for the less adventurous. The first new food I tried was an appetizer - pupusa de queso y loroco. It's a flat pancake-like treat made of ground corn and filled with cheese and herbs. It's pan-fried, and served warm. Delicious but mild. For those who prefer spicy, load up on the Goya hot sauce provided by the restaurant, which is nice but not too hot. A person could get two or three of these, with a price tag of just $1.50 each, and make a nice lunch. Then there are the pupusas reveueltas, for $1.25, which have bits of chicken and other meats. The tamale Salvadorenos, for $1.50, is another tasty bargain. It's basically a small loaf of corn meal (like polenta) filled with chick peas and chicken and mild spices. Again, drizzle a little hot sauce. The tamale is wrapped in a banana leaf. A familiar dish, chicken quesadilla for $3.75, was great too. The cheese and chicken and beans were stuffed into a soft tortilla, which was then pan-fried. It was toasty on the outside, hot on the inside. It was pretty big, big enough for lunch or to split between two people if you get a side dish or appetizer as well. A side of rice and beans, for $2.95, could have made a lunch by itself. It was a plate full of buttery rice with creamy, almost pureed, refried beans. The restaurant also has a small dining room, with about six tables, air-conditioning, and colorful wall coverings with Spanish captions. There also are picnic tables outside. The pupusas, tamale and quesadilla I ordered for takeout were wrapped in aluminum foil and still hot when I ate them 15 minutes or so after leaving the restaurant. Tu Casa is just a two-minute drive from the Eastern Promenade and East End Beach, so it's a good place to get picnic fixings. The Goods:
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